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Outdoor Activities

A Stop in Murray – Heritage of Idaho

FOCUS ON WALKING
ActiveLifestylesNW.com to feature Focus on Walking
ActiveLifestylesNW.com this month welcomes author Dan Friesen and his exciting insights on walking in the Northwest and beyond. Friesen owns Walking Adventures International (WAI), a Vancouver, Washington, a family-owned travel planner and tour operator offering travel programs on all seven continents. The firm offers walking tours as the optimal way to connect with the world since 1989. Friesen and his staff conduct motor coach sightseeing tours blended with 2-4 hour walks to domestic and international destinations. Visit ActiveLifestylesNW.com for regular updates on Friesen’s latest walking adventure. For more info, go to www.walkingadventures.com.
By Dan Friesen, Guide for Walking Adventures International

If you’re on a road trip through Idaho and need a few moments to get out of the car and stretch your legs, check out the tiny community of Murray, Idaho. Murray is located a ways off the I-90 freeway that runs east and west through the Idaho panhandle into Washington, but this little town offers up some gems of Idaho’s history and heritage.

Goldmine bar
Bedroom Goldmine Bar
The incredible boom for precious metals in northern Idaho started in Murray back in 1883. Gold was discovered in nearby Prichard Creek and the rush to Idaho began in earnest. The boom soon moved south where massive amounts of silver ore were found in the valleys east of Coeur d’Alene. Murray, however, continued to attract attention from miners. The town was the county seat for 14 years and, in its heyday, more than 20,000 people lived in the area.
Today, Murray is a tiny community that has lost little of its “old Idaho” appeal. It’s remote! It’s authentic! And there are two establishments, in particular, that form a bridge for modern day explorers looking for connections with the past.
The Bedroom Goldmine Bar serves diner/grill/pizza meals in the former home of a town resident who sunk a mine shaft about 30 feet straight down in his bedroom. The former owner had been convinced by the foreman of the local dredging operation that his home was literally “sitting on a gold mine.” Apparently there was truth in the claim, and the homeowner did, in fact, make a significant find of gold beneath his bedroom.
From the Bedroom Gold Mine Bar, take a walk down the street toward the Spragpole Steak and Rib House, passing along the way the cutest log cabin post office you could ever hope to see. People are generally open and friendly in this part of Idaho, and you might receive a greeting from the post office dog or the postmistress herself as she leaves on her way out to make deliveries.
The Spragpole Steak and Rib House hosts another memorable local museum displaying the assorted collectibles of Walt Almquist. A more eclectic assortment of western/mining Americana would be hard to imagine. Two huge rooms at the back of the restaurant house Walt’s old valuables, including a large assortment of his wood carvings, his self-carved “largest wooden chain in the world,” whiskey jugs, chamber pots, artificial hip joints, ancient-looking typewriters, a completely furnished period schoolroom, gemstones, tools, and elements from just about every phase of life in the old West in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
post office
Post office in Murray
In addition to offering a glimpse of the heart and the heritage of an area that’s not generally visited by modern tourism, a drive to Murray, Idaho also offers the explorer the chance to experience some beautiful Bitterroot Mountains scenery. That, along with the opportunity to connect with some of Idaho’s oldest and most out of the way mining treasures, makes the little community of Murray a hard spot to miss!
This article was submitted by Walking Adventures International, a small travel company based in Vancouver, Washington offering tours with walks and sightseeing throughout the world. For information, call 800.779.0353 or go to www.walkingadventures.com.